Yaroslav the Wise

Yaroslav the Wise (983-20 February 1054) was Grand Prince of Kiev from 1015 to 1054, succeeding Sviatopolk I of Kiev and preceding Iziaslav I of Kiev; he was also Grand Mayor of Novgorod from 1010 to 1034, preceding Vladimir of Novgorod.

Biography
Yaroslav was born in 983, the son of Vladimir the Great and Rogneda of Polotsk, one of the youngest of thirteen children. In his youth, his father sent him to govern Rostov, but in 1010 he was instead sent to govern Novgorod, becoming its grand mayor. In 1015, he inherited the Grand Principality of the Kievan Rus, and he campaigned against Sviatopolk I of Kiev and his ally Boleslaw I Chobry of Poland for control of Kiev. Yaroslav had to fight against several of his brothers, and in 1024 his brother-in-law Anund Jacob defeated him. However, in 1030 he he reconquered western Ukraine and southern Poland from the Poles, and he allied with Casimir I of Poland. In 1043, Yaroslav raided Constantinople in the Byzantine Empire, concluding the war with a favorable treaty, gaining Chersonesus in Crimea. He died in 1054, and his daughter Anna of Kiev (with his wife Ingegerd Olofsdotter of Sweden) married King Henry I of France.